Speciation of coagulase negative staphylococci (CoNS) isolated from various clinical specimens in a tertiary care hospital of southern Rajasthan

ABSTRACT

Background: Coagulase negative staphylococci (CoNS) are a group of staph bacteria, which generally exist as normal flora of human skin and the oral flora found on mucous membranes. CoNS in immunocompromised pa?ents can cause variety of infec?ons like bacteraemia, central nervous system shunt infec?on, intravascular catheter-related infec?ons, endocardi?s, surgical site infec?ons, urinary tract infec?ons, foreign body infec?on, endophthalmi?s, peritoni?s and wound, bone and joint infec?ons as well as infec?ons in neonates. These infec?ons are difficult to treat because of the risk factors and the drug resistant nature of the organisms.Objec?veTo find out species wise distribu?on of Coagulase nega?ve Staphylococci (CoNS) in various relevant clinical samples in our ins?tute. Materials and Method:A total of 500 CoNS strains were isolated from relevant clinical specimens. CoNS strains were isolated from variety of clinical specimens. Strains were iden?fied as CoNS on the basis of colony morphology, gram stain, catalase test and coagulase test. Conven?onal methods were used for species iden?fica?on a?er confirming isolates as CoNS. Results:The most common source of CoNS isola?on was blood (34%), followed by respiratory secre?ons (24.4%), urine (16.8%), pus (13.4%), swabs (5.4%), bodily fluid (1.4%), and others (4.6%). S.epidermidis was most frequently isolated (30.6%), followed by S.hemoly?cus (25.4%), S.hominis (12.6%), S.capi?s (12%), S.lugdunensis (11.4%) and S.cohnii (08%). Conclusion: As CoNS have become major cause of nosocomial infec?ons, there is a need for rapid iden?fica?on and specia?on of CoNS with their an?bio?c suscep?bility for be?er management of these cases and to prevent emergence of drug resistance.